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Fierce Israel critic launches Senate bid in Michigan high-stakes 2026 midterm race

A former Michigan public health official and Democratic candidate for governor entered the race for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat on Thursday in what could be one of the most watched races in the 2026 midterm elections.
Abdul El-Sayed, 40, is the second Democrat to put his name in the running to replace Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who is not seeking reelection.
El-Sayed, a prominent figure in a movement that was highly critical of support for Israel in the 2024 election cycle, aims to set himself apart from the other Democratic candidates in the race to replace Peters, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow.
McMorrow has said she would vote against Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., retaining his leadership position should she prevail in the primary and general election to represent the battleground state in the upper chamber of Congress.
However, El-Sayed held back criticism of Schumer.
«Anybody who tells you that they’re going to unilaterally oppose one potential candidate without knowing who the alternative is, is either unnuanced or unsophisticated,» El-Sayed told Politico. «So I want to know who is available, who is actively seeking the leadership. I’ll make a decision from there.»
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Michigan Democratic then-gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed campaigns with support from New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a rally on the campus of Wayne State University on July 28, 2018, in Detroit. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
«What we need right now is somebody who’s willing to take the fight directly to Trump and Musk, but then also knows how to rebuild a version of our federal government that better serves working people after the carnage that Musk and Trump are going to leave behind, and I think I offer that,» he told Politico.
Other Democrats considering a run to replace Peters include U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
El-Sayed was active in the «uncommited movement,» a group of anti-Israel, traditionally Democratic voters in Michigan, a critical swing state, who threatened to withhold support from then-President Joe Biden, and then then-Vice President Kamala Harris, over the administration’s stance on Gaza. He did say he would back whoever was the eventual Democratic choice for the presidential ticket to oppose now-President Donald Trump, according to Politico.
The Israel-Hamas war exposed deep divisions within the Democratic Party last election cycle, and there is concern the conflict could again make for a messy Senate Democratic primary in Michigan if the American Israel Public Affairs Committee intervenes. The powerful pro-Israel lobby group financially backed Stevens in 2022, when redistricting forced a competitive primary run against fellow Democrat, Rep. Andy Levin.
«Everybody is unified around leadership that reminds the Democratic Party that we ought to be the party of peace and justice, that we ought not to be the party sending bombs and money to foreign militaries to drop bombs on other people’s kids in their schools and their hospitals, when our kids need more, our hospitals and schools need more, and we should be spending that money here at home,» El-Sayed told Politico.

Abdul El-Sayed speaks during a coronavirus public health roundtable with presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday, March 9, 2020. (Erin Kirkland/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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El-Sayed ran for governor in 2018 as a progressive Democrat and was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
He came in second in the Democratic primary, losing to Gretchen Whitmer by more than 20 points and beating now-U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar by more than 12 points. Whitmer went on to win the general election and is in the midst of a second term. She cannot run again because of term limits.
A resident of Ann Arbor, El-Sayed recently served as director of the Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services in Wayne County, home to Detroit. Before that, he was the public health director of the city after it declared bankruptcy in 2013.
El-Sayed cautioned Democrats against learning the «wrong lessons» from their defeats.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders participates in a coronavirus public health roundtable with healthcare professionals, including Abdul El-Sayed, left, as he campaigns on March 9, 2020, in Detroit. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
«If you cut corners and trim your message, and you triangulate to the least common denominator, you can find something that’s perfectly inoffensive to everyone, and the problem with that is that you’re not actually saying anything,» he told Politico.
El-Sayed said he met with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Tuesday. He told Politico that it was his «understanding» that the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm would not get involved in the primary. If that happens, that deviates from how the DSCC previously acted to clear the field of potential primary candidates to make for an easier primary victory for then-Rep. Elissa Slotkin. Now-Sen. Slotkin, D-Mich., easily won the primary over Hill Harper, and then won the general election.
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El-Sayed is also the second candidate this week to launch a campaign to replace Peters. On the Republican side, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers launched his bid on Monday after losing the Senate race last year by 19,000 votes to Democrat Slotkin.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Michigan,Senate,Senate Democrats,Bernie Sanders,Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
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Russia sat on intel of Hillary Clinton’s alleged ‘heavy tranquilizers’ use, new docs claim

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Russia allegedly had intelligence suggesting that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was taking «heavy tranquilizers,» which former President Barack Obama and Democratic Party leaders found to be «extraordinarily alarming,» a newly declassified intelligence report claims.
Fox News Digital first reported that the U.S. intelligence community did not have any direct information that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to help elect Donald Trump during the 2016 election, but, at the «unusual» direction of then-President Obama, reportedly published «potentially biased» or «implausible» intelligence suggesting otherwise.
BRENNAN DIRECTED PUBLICATION OF ‘IMPLAUSIBLE’ REPORTS CLAIMING PUTIN PREFERRED TRUMP IN 2016, HOUSE FOUND
The information came from a report declassified by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. The report was prepared by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in 2020.
The report, which was based on an investigation launched by former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., was dated Sept. 18, 2020. At the time of the publication of the report, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., was the chairman of the committee.
The report had never before been released to the public, and instead, remained highly classified within the intelligence community.
Fox News Digital obtained the «fully-sourced limited-access investigation report that was drafted and stored in a limited-access vault at CIA Headquarters.» The report includes some redactions.
One section of the report states that the material in Putin’s possession included Russian intelligence on Democratic National Committee information allegedly showing that senior Democrat leaders found Clinton’s health to be «extraordinarily alarming.»
Then-President Obama stands with then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. (AP)
«As of September 2016, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service had DNC information that President Obama and Party leaders found the state of Secretary Clinton’s health to be ‘extraordinarily alarming,’ and felt it could have ‘serious negative impact’ on her election prospects,» the report states. «Her health information was being kept in ‘strictest secrecy’ and even close advisors were not being fully informed.»
The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service also allegedly had DNC communications that showed that «Clinton was suffering from ‘intensified psycho-emotional problems, including uncontrolled fits of anger, aggression, and cheerfulness.’»
«Clinton was placed on a daily regimen of ‘heavy tranquilizers’ and while afraid of losing, she remained ‘obsessed with a thirst for power,’» the report states.
The Russians also allegedly had information that Clinton «suffered from ‘Type 2 diabetes, Ischemic heart disease, deep vein thrombosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.’»
The Russians also allegedly possessed a «campaign email discussing a plan approved by Secretary Clinton to link Putin and Russian hackers to candidate Trump in order to ‘distract the American public’ from the Clinton email server scandal.»
Gabbard, during the White House press briefing Wednesday, said there were «high level DNC emails that detailed evidence of Hillary’s, quote, psycho-emotional problems, uncontrolled fits of anger, aggression and cheerfulness, and that then Secretary Clinton was allegedly on a daily regimen of heavy tranquilizers.»
«Then CIA Director Brennan and the intelligence community mischaracterized intelligence and relied on dubious, substandard sources to create a contrived false narrative that Putin developed a, quote unquote, ‘clear preference’ for Trump,» Gabbard said. «Brennan and the IC misled lawmakers by referencing the debunked Steele dossier to assess, quote unquote, ‘Russia’s plans and intentions,’ falsely suggesting that this dossier had intelligence value when he knew that it was discredited, the intelligence community excluded significant intelligence and ignored or selectively quoted reliable intelligence that contradicted the intelligence community assessments.»
«Key findings on Putin’s alleged support for Trump, including this intelligence reporting, would have exposed the ICA’s claim as implausible, if not ridiculous,» she said.
Neither Clinton nor Obama responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
A tranquilizer is a drug used to reduce mental disturbance, such as anxiety and tension. Tranquilizers are typically prescribed to individuals suffering from anxiety, sleep disturbances and related conditions affecting their mental and physical health.
OBAMA OFFICIALS ADMITTED THEY HAD NO ‘EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE’ OF TRUMP-RUSSIA COLLUSION: HOUSE INTEL TRANSCRIPTS
Fox News Digital, in 2020, first reported on the «Clinton Plan.»

President Barack Obama waves on stage with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during a rally at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Nov. 7, 2016. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/The Associated Press)
On July 28, 2016, then-CIA Director John Brennan briefed Obama on a plan from one of Clinton’s campaign foreign policy advisors allegedly «to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service.»
Comey, Vice President Joe Biden, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper were in the Brennan–Obama briefing.
After that briefing, the CIA reportedly properly forwarded that information through a Counterintelligence Operational Lead (CIOL) to Comey and Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok, with the subject line: «Crossfire Hurricane.»
Fox News Digital exclusively obtained and reported on the CIOL in October 2020, which stated: «The following information is provided for the exclusive use of your bureau for background investigative action or lead purposes as appropriate.»
«Per FBI verbal request, CIA provides the below examples of information the CROSSFIRE HURRICANE fusion cell has gleaned to date,» the memo continued. «An exchange (REDACTED) discussing US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s approval of a plan concerning US presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering US elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server.»

President Barack Obama in the East Room of the White House announcing he was nominating John Brennan as the new CIA director. (Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images)
The FBI on July 31, 2016, opened a counterintelligence investigation into whether candidate Trump and members of his campaign were colluding or coordinating with Russia to influence the 2016 campaign. That investigation was referred to inside the bureau as «Crossfire Hurricane.»
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Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to take over the FBI’s original «Crossfire Hurricane» investigation. After nearly two years, Mueller’s investigation, which concluded in March 2019, yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election.
Shortly after, John Durham was appointed as special counsel to investigate the origins of the «Crossfire Hurricane» probe.
Durham found that the FBI «failed to act» on a «clear warning sign» that the bureau was the «target» of a Clinton-led effort to «manipulate or influence the law enforcement process for political purposes» ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

President Barack Obama speaks to the media after meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch and FBI Director James Comey in the Oval Office at the White House on July 19, 2016. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
«The aforementioned facts reflect a rather startling and inexplicable failure to adequately consider and incorporate the Clinton Plan intelligence into the FBI’s investigative decision-making in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation,» Durham’s report states.
«Indeed, had the FBI opened the Crossfire Hurricane investigation as an assessment and, in turn, gathered and analyzed data in concert with the information from the Clinton Plan intelligence, it is likely that the information received would have been examined, at a minimum, with a more critical eye,» the report continued.
Durham, in his report, said the FBI «failed to act on what should have been – when combined with other incontrovertible facts – a clear warning sign that the FBI might then be the target of an effort to manipulate or influence the law enforcement process for political purposes during the 2016 presidential election.»
Meanwhile, the report states that Brennan «ordered the post-election publication of 15 reports containing previously collected but unpublished intelligence, three of which were substandard – containing information that was unclear, of uncertain origin, potentially biased, or implausible – and those became foundational sources for the ICA judgments that Putin preferred Trump over Clinton.»
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«The ICA misrepresented these reports as reliable, without mentioning their significant underlying flaws,» the committee found.
«One scant, unclear, and unverifiable fragment of a sentence from one of the substandard reports constitutes the only classified information cited to suggest Putin ‘aspired’ to help Trump win,» the report states, adding that the ICA «ignored or selectively quoted reliable intelligence reports that challenged-and in some cases undermined – judgments that Putin sought to elect Trump.»
The report also states that the ICA «failed to consider plausible alternative explanations of Putin’s intentions indicated by reliable intelligence and observed Russian actions.»
The committee also found that two senior CIA officers reportedly warned Brennan that «we don’t have direct information that Putin wanted to get Trump elected.»
Despite those warnings, the Obama administration moved to publish the ICA.
The report also includes intelligence from a longtime Putin confidant who explained to investigators that «Putin told him he did not care who won the election,» and that Putin «had often outlined the weaknesses of both major candidates.»
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The report also stated that the ICA committed context showing that the claim that Putin preferred Trump was «implausible – if not ridiculous.»
The committee also found that the ICA suppressed intelligence that showed that Russia was actually planning for a Clinton victory because «they knew where (she) stood» and believed Russia «could work with her.»
The declassification of the report comes just days after Gabbard declassified and released documents that included «overwhelming evidence» that demonstrated how, after Trump won the 2016 election against Clinton, then-President Obama and his national security team laid the groundwork for what would be the yearslong Trump–Russia collusion probe.

Special Counsel John Durham (Ron Sachs/Consolidated News Pictures/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Fox News Digital, in 2020, exclusively obtained the declassified transcripts from Obama-era national security officials’ closed-door testimonies before the House Intelligence Committee, in which those officials testified that they had no «empirical evidence» of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election, but continued to publicly push the «narrative» of collusion.
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The House Intelligence Committee, in 2017, conducted depositions of top Obama intelligence officials, including Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, National Security Advisor Susan Rice and Attorney General Loretta Lynch, among others.
The transcripts, from 2017 and 2018, revealed top Obama officials were questioned by House Intelligence Committee lawmakers and investigators about whether they had or had seen evidence of such collusion, coordination or conspiracy – the issue that drove the FBI’s initial case and later the special counsel probe.
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«I never saw any direct empirical evidence that the Trump campaign or someone in it was plotting/conspiring with the Russians to meddle with the election,» Clapper testified in 2017. «That’s not to say that there weren’t concerns about the evidence we were seeing, anecdotal evidence…. But I do not recall any instance where I had direct evidence.»
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Zelenskyy forced to rethink anti-corruption law after public backlash

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to introduce new legislation that will restore the independence of anti-corruption agencies in Ukraine after fierce public opposition and international condemnation over signing a law that targeted Ukraine’s independent anti-corruption institutions.
In a sudden turn of events, Zelenskyy posted a video on X in which he said, «Of course, everyone has heard what people are saying these days – on social media, to each other, on the streets. It’s not falling on deaf ears. We analyzed all concerns, all aspects of what needs to be changed and what needs to be stepped up.
«I will propose a bill to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine that will be the response. It will ensure the strength of the rule of law system, and there will be no Russian influence or interference in the activities of law enforcement. And very importantly – all the norms for the independence of anti-corruption institutions will be in place,» he said according to a translated version on the screen.
UKRAINE SEES SWEEPING PROTESTS OVER BILL WEAKENING ANTI-CORRUPTION AGENCIES
Mass protests erupted in Kyiv and across Ukraine in opposition to the law, the largest anti-government demonstrations since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called Zelenskyy to express her strong concerns and convey Brussels’ disapproval of the bill.
One source close to the situation, who asked to remain anonymous, told Fox News Digital that the incident should give President Zelenskyy pause as to whether he is getting the best counsel from his closest people.
The individual with ties to the Ukraine government said this propaganda bonanza for Russia is a self-inflicted wound and also shows the president and his team have misread public sentiment.
Many Ukrainians and Western allies fear the current turmoil could jeopardize their path to join the European Union and fracture society’s unity while the country faces continued Russian onslaughts.
Although he signed the original bill, Zelenskyy said with the announcement of the new bill that it will ensure the independence of anti-corruption bodies and also eliminate Russian influence over their activities. In defending the previous legislation, he claimed that Ukraine’s anti-corruption infrastructure was infiltrated by Russia.
Ukrainians protest in the first wartime rally against a newly passed law, which curbs independence of anti-corruption institutions, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in central Lviv, Ukraine July 22, 2025. (Roman Baluk/Reuters)
The previous bill that passed on Tuesday allowed Ukraine’s Prosecutor General, appointed by the president, wide authority over cases before the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), an anti-corruption agency that was championed by the United States and Europe. It gave the prosecutor general the sweeping power to transfer cases from NABU and usurp other powers from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), the agency responsible for prosecuting NABU’s cases.
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«That is tantamount to being able to squash any legal accountability for corruption,» Josh Rudolph, anti-corruption expert and senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, told Fox News Digital.
Rudolph noted that the heads of NABU and SAPO are highly reputable professionals and were selected with the concurrence of Ukraine’s international partners, a key component of joining the EU.
«Zelenskyy could have come out as a hero or a villain if he signed the bill. It was a moment of truth,» Orysia Lutsevych, Head of Ukraine Forum, Chatham House, told Fox News Digital. Even though Zelenskyy listened to public opinion and ultimately backed down, his overall popularity continues to take a hit.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (not in picture) hold a joint press conference during the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 (URC2025) at Roma Convention Center La Nuvola, on July 10, 2025 in Rome, Italy (Antonio Masiello/Getty Image)
Ukraine has been plagued by government corruption since declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Many Ukraine watchers are worried that efforts to rollback anti-corruption initiatives will be fodder for Russian propaganda and fracture Ukraine’s unity at a critical time in the war.
«Russia can and will use Ukraine’s move to restructure anti-corruption agencies to argue lack of unity, support for the government, and internal disagreements. It will again apply its propaganda arguments about legitimacy of Zelenskyy and the need for elections,» Tymofiy Mylovanov, President of Kyiv School of Economics, told Fox News Digital.

In this handout photo taken from video released by Russian Presidential Press Service, Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the nation in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, June 24, 2023. (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin claims Zelenskyy is illegitimate and has called for new elections in Ukraine. Elections were scheduled for March 2024 but postponed while the country remains at war and under martial law.
The disunity within Ukraine comes at a time when Russian forces are escalating large-scale missile and drone strikes in Kyiv and across the country. Russian forces continue to make advances while Kyiv urgently pleads with Europe and the United States to send air defense systems and other key weapons to limit Moscow’s battlefield gains.
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